Expressions

Baseball action photography fascinates me. I have always enjoyed this 'stop-motion' aspect for a game normally watched in live action.

I could totally get massive quantities of these images by just wandering around on the Getty Images website in particular, or subscribing to a major newspaper, something I have planned for the start of Spring Training 2025.

Naturally you won't be surprised that instead I mostly check out Baseball action photos via Baseball Cards. Today I ripped a single retail pack (not easy to find any more, but still manufactured) of 2024 Topps Update. I quickly found myself pondering the expressions on each player's face, starting with the very first card I saw, which was technically the last card in the pack but when the card is upside down at the bottom of the pack, odds are good it will be your first impression from the pack. I will be opening my first pack of 2025 Topps Baseball about 3 months from now very carefully, I will say that.

So as these thoughts grew I decided to just write them up, regarding each card in the pack, to see what happens. Here we go -

The Card: I quite like these inserts; I haven't lined some from previous years all up together for a dance-off to see which one I like best, yet, but I think 2024 will finish very well in such a competition. I don't really care for anointing a Rookie a "Star" as this card does; perhaps that is just an automatic reflex now as Rookies are shoved in to stacks of every kind of baseball card even including so many insert checklists. I guess some Rookies are instant Stars; Cowser did just finish 3rd in AL Rookie-of-the-Year voting. Nonetheless I don't care for the practice in a general sense - is Corbin Carrol still a "Star of MLB?" I do like how just seeing Colton Cowser's name instantly makes great Colter Wall songs play in my head. Colter is a fantastic singer-songwriter from Canadia, who's music I would like to hear more of, but, so much music, so little time.

Though I like the 2024 version of these inserts so much that I might assemble 18 of them this year rather than just 9 as per usual, I knew instantly this one would never make the cut for that.

The Expression:

What particularly caught my attention on this card was not the RC logo nor the personal musical association. Rather it was the way it instantly recalled both my favorite, and least favorite recent Detroit Tigers Rookie Card, that of Riley Greene -

,

which is probably the card that really revved up my thoughts on this concept, although there have been others ever since the Topps Baseball set became the all-action, all-the-time set.

Simply put - I don't understand why Topps picks these images with some less than positive countenances on the player's faces. Particularly for a player's Rookie Card card, which will be probably the primary image of him for many collectors, forever and ever. This is less a problem on the Colton Cowser Insert Rookie Card card, but that one still has a problem in that this newly minted "Star" looks darn unhappy about what just happened on the field of play. "Stars" - are supposed to be upbeat. Who wants a frowning Star? Not me.

What is the deeper mystery, to me, is just why Topps does this. Laziness? My primary guess. I did my own research here and it took me all of 5 seconds to discover that Getty currently publishes 622 images of Riley Greene from the year 2022, which is what would be used on a 2023 Series One card. So it's not like there are too few choices for Topps here — quite the opposite.

Firing this post up I knew I would be unable to resist commenting on each card, as a Baseball Card, and will keep doing that but will (try to) tone down the tl;dr angle there. Let's recall the concept at hand before adding some more features to this post -

The Expression: Dang, grounder.

What I Think Will Happen: Out

Play Ball!

The Card: This is the actual first card in the pack. I feel like I just pulled an Ian Kennedy card. Kennedy finally retired after the 2023 season; his Final Card was in 2023 Update. I say "finally" because Kennedy, and here, Zack Littell, look one heckuva a lot like: ME. That's always been a little disconcerting in my packs of Baseball Cards, because a weird oddity of them has always been this feeling that I should have kept playing Baseball beyond Back Yard Home Run Derby, cuz What If? Dunno if y'all feel that way looking at Baseball Cards, but my Doppelgänger cards always make my thoughts go in that direction. Is there such a thing as Senior League Softball?

I do like the pure "Ray" uniform of just the rays of the Sun; I suspect, solely from my Baseball Cards, that the Tampa Bay Baseball Club has been wearing these a little more frequently of late.

The Expression:

Nerves.

What I Think Will Happen: Ball!

Thereafter -

The Card: Didja ever notice that when Topps seemingly puts a team's cap logo on the front of the card, they don't actually do that for all 30 teams? One of the most usual exceptions is those red socks that appear on Boston Red Sox cards, even though they only sometimes appear on their uniforms and very rarely on their caps, in team history. The Cubs are another routine such exception. If I had infinite amounts of time I would surely delve into this more. 

The Expression:

You so Out.

What I Think Will Happen: Out at First, not close.

Subsequently -

The Card: Is there anything more confusing than a player who gets traded from the Rays to the Marlins? There is also the long-running Prospect Triangle between Tampa, Cleveland, and San Diego but one gets the impression that San Diego finally ran out of trade pieces a few years ago. Tampa of course never will.

This card though, is letter perfect. The Marlins logo looks like it might even have been part of the inspiration for The Neon this year. It is always tough to beat a Red, White, & Blue Baseball Card, and the sweet Marlins shoulder patch is the finishing touch of perfection. Or is it the pearl necklace?

The Expression:

Seriously? That's as fast as you run?

What I Think Will Happen: Two Outs

Batter Up!

The Card: A Rookie Debut card is one where the image choice is particularly important, in my never very humble opinion, as it is ... probably? always? ... a picture from a player's, yes, debut game. I think Topps does honor that, every time; it has certainly proved true whenever I have tried to catch them being sneaky and it is certainly true on this one — I checked.

This card has some nice features. Have you noticed how willing Topps is now to move the Topps logo &/or the RC logo around the card? That is some wonderful progress on crafting quality Baseball Cards, as compared to just robotically placing those logos in the same place on every card in the set, automatically, just, because. Good, job.

Another cool deet is a sighting of the VIDA patch the A's wore for Vida Blue. I haven't finished collating / bindering the Complete Set of The Neon yet (might be a minute), so I don't know how many cards will show that patch. I am hoping there is a little better view of it than this one.

As for the feature at hand, I cheated on confirming my suspicions of what happens next; all I had to do was flip the card over as a Rookie Debut card quickly synopsizes the Debut experience on the back.

The Expression:

Well that one ain't goin' yard.

What I Think Will Happen: Centerfielder takes two steps to his left, and...

Next.

The Card: Another solid Neon, and a perfect use of the horizontal format. 

There were no Cincinnati Reds cards in this pack, but perhaps those and the Cleveland card help explain why the Chicago club gets a full logo on the Neon diamond, to not have -too- many "C" cards, dunno. This might actually be a 2nd try at a capital "C" for the Guardians, another dunno. 

The Expression:

Nailed it.

What I Think Will Happen: Strike!

3? It is very, very rare to know the pitch count on a Baseball Card, however -

The Card: Another year, another keep-on-the-sunny-side Baseball Card for Omar. I have always liked his cards the last several years but there is a strong chance this is his Sunset Card as he was released by the Mets back in June and didn't return to The Show after signing with Houston. Sigh.

The Expression:

I got this.

What I Think Will Happen: Tough, tough call...Replay Challenge incoming.

while we wait on that -

The Card: Can't open a pack of Update without Rookie Debut cards falling out of it of course. When these first started in 2012 Update, iirc, there were only 10 such cards on the checklist.

I do like this card showing off the bold move to wear #0, which is always eye catching. So it motivated me to see how many players have ever done that, and I just done forgot the total already; it was somewhere between 3 & 4 dozen. Makes for neat cards; a little collection of these - is born.

The Expression:

Locked in.

What I Think Will Happen: I will flip the card over and just wonder.

I need, like, another card -

The Card: This is a true Update card in that Wacha appears as a Padre in 2024 Topps Baseball Series 1. Even though he was released by the Padres last November 6th. That's just the way she goes, boys, that's just the way she goes.

The Expression:

I'm Back!

What I Think Will Happen: A steeee-rike. Of course.

Batter Up!

The Card:  There is a more than passing chance that this could be Ohtani's first "true" Dodgers card, i.e. where he is not Photoshopped into a Dodgers uniform. That is almost certainly the case as there is so much visual activity on his left arm that no one down in the Topps Baseball Card mine would have time to include that stuff if the photo originated in an Angels uniform. Going forward a lack of the new commercial shoulder patch almost every team has these days could be a key tell of authenticity. I just don't collect Ohtani cards quickly/fervently enough to know if some other 2024 product might have delivered such a first. Naturally I do enjoy pulling his cards every time, photoshop-or-no.

The Expression:

Oh.

Didja ever notice the first 2 letters of Shohei's last name and how that connects to Japanese Baseball history, and particularly Home Runs? You're welcome.

What I Think Will Happen: Dinger, but not a moon shot. My guess would be Topps went Rookie Debut authentic style here for a Home Run statistic checklist card. You now have your own homework assignment.

Bases cleared, now -

The Card: We have a winner. Card, anyway, as for now Verdugo's temporary lodgement in the world of baseball fan memories is as the last Yankees batter in the World Series. You could hear the cheers from Boston, where Verdugo was not liked. Nevertheless this will almost certainly be on my eventual page of best Neon horizontals, which I will still assemble even after bindering up a set of 2024 Update, also. Plus - Frame Break - Topps is getting good at this. Composition skill continues to impress lately.

I do love a Baseball card featuring a key component of the concept: the Base itself. These are actually fairly rarely seen on Baseball Cards and this card about perfectly centers one.

Given the Mets' colorful base tags which I have put to use before in deciphering the exact result of a Baseball Card action image, I decided to just fast forward my inquisitiveness about my intuition. Particularly since I continue to have minor trust issues on the photos Topps sends me, as I was just babbling about with the Ohtani card.

The Expression:

I hope the other guy made it.

What I found out happens: A curious thing about this card is the complete lack of any image of a New York Met defending the play. Which seems odd given the head-first slide.

This is indeed an authentic image of Verdugo wearing an authentic New York Yankees uniform. I initially confirmed this by checking to see if the Red Sox played at CITI Field in 2023; they did not.

I then found a possible match from a game in late June, 2024, when the Yankees did go cross-town. I was all prepared to anoint a goofy play where Verdugo started on 2nd base and advanced to 3rd, but during an inning-ending Double Play that generated Outs at 2nd & 1st. Which would possibly explain this image.

But when I went to the Getty website to confirm, I discovered I was an entire country width off-base:

SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA - JUNE 01: Alex Verdugo #24 of the New York Yankees laying on the ground at third base celebrates after he hit an rbi triple scoring Aaron Judge #99 against the San Francisco Giants in the top of the eighth inning at Oracle Park on June 01, 2024 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)

So today I learned that the Giants also use colorful orange tags on their Bases. I like that. But I expect it might be more than a few minutes before I see that on a Baseball Card again.

I am pleased by this photo selection, as the Topps Baseball Card miner almost certainly considered this image also:

(same Getty caption as above; text makes more sense on this image)

I am nowhere close to being opposed to baseball players showing some emotion during play,  and I like seeing that on my Baseball Cards, some. On cards, it long seemed that cards, too, had one of those infamous Unwritten Rules in that only The Closer was to be shown celebrating something, though sometimes a Batter could be shown giving a pointed finger salute to The Big Guy in the Sky also. Those rules are lessening some for all Pitchers, and Batters, on Topps products. Meanwhile however, many teams have really ramped up the little gestures and celebrations during a game, not just at the end of the game, with the Yankees regularly flashing their own little gang sign as seen in Getty's photo there.

Old Man Alert - Change! Run! I just said this is OK but I guess I'm just not down with the hand gestures. Perhaps Topps sees this as a tiny minefield to avoid, as a hand gesture in one city might not mean the same thing in another place, dunno. So for now, yeah, no, on the creative use of hands. 

Or, maybe the Topps Baseball Card miner just wanted to show off a perfect spot to do a Frame Break. Works for me. With Verdugo on 3rd now though, this next Pitch is important -

The Card: Just another perfect Neon. Even the outfield wall advertising graphics contribute well, and I see no laziness here in that in previous years, the Topps Card Back miner would have a 50/50 chance of simply dropping the TC logo right on tops of Jorge's foot for no good reason when just more lazily cropping images. The Neon set will have a much higher Zoom Index than many in the 2010s when I get around to calculating it in the year 2031 or so.

The Expression:

My Catcher called -that- Pitch?

What I Think Will Happen: Ball.

Hey look, a Rook -

The Card: A very happy "pull" which will certainly become a Keeper in either a page of 1989 2024 Topps, or perhaps a Jackson Chourio page of his oh-so-many Rookie Card cards shot from this exact angle. I am getting quite close to pulling a $40 trigger on his 2024 Series Two sorta "short" print card which has the best of these images, by far. And if I get that one, well, it will need some binder page mates.

But this image is perfectly matched to the colorful 1989 Topps design. I quite like all the many cards these days that feature a team's "Road Alternate" uniform so you effectively have the card say "Milwaukee Brewers" on it in actual text rather than another smooshed/hidden/slashed logo, as on last year's Topps Baseball set and too many other recent designs.

The Expression:

meh

What I Think Will Happen: Perhaps, a bit of criticism for not "hustling out of the box" although that is actually something the speedy Chourio is known for, making this particular image capture (as a whole) a tad perplexing, though his expression here is straightforward.

Maybe that's all cuz -

The Card: Another happy find, particularly as on just my 6th pack of 2024 Update, I already have both All-Star Game inserts from the Tigers. 2 Detroit Tigers All-Stars in the same year? That's been a minute. Happy Days ahead, we hope. Topps can never resist a high leg kick Pitcher; I think Skubal will have many cards like this one in the future.

The Expression:

Ima blow that speedball by ya, make ya look like a fool

What I Think Will Happen: Strike-Out, natch - imminent Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal threw just 10 pitches while striking out a side of National League batters in the 2024 All-Star Game. Tigers fans breathed a huge sigh of relief that nothing went wrong in the Part-Time Pitchers Era. 

back in the day though -

The Card: This is also my First Card from 2024 Update; now I have the "Meijers Purple" parallel, too. I quite like this card but I don't see the parallel as improving on the regular base version. Thus it will probably end up at COMC some day, well after the first purchaser shells out a buck for it and I will net a nickel on it, I expect. I do kinda look forward to seeing some of the limited/rare/still worthless "ooohhh, shiny" parallels of The Neon but doubt I will go out of my way to score any. The Neon is just exactly perfect already. And, I am a sucker for each and every Baseball Card showing off the classic MLB icon, seen on less Baseball Cards than you might think.

The Expression:

I think I can, I think I can, I think I can

What I Think Will Happen: Gibson scores in a cloud of dust, well before the throw! Epic.

That purple card is actually the 15th card in the 14 card pack as it arrives outside the pack in a special "blister" format. I was quite happy to see those appear for Update this year after a skip in 2023. Mostly because I like the concept involved here - for a Five-spot, I get a pack of Topps Baseball Cards plus one purple scratch-off lottery ticket. So whenever I buy some groceries for the next few months, I, too, just might hit one of those crazy valuable Paul Skenes Rookie Card cards. Plus it is just generally more relaxing to fully absorb 15 Baseball Cards at once rather than massive piles of them, of which I have too many already.

Thus concludes a look at 15 brand-new Baseball player expressions while they are intently playing the game. 3 of them (Vázquez, Bruján, & Wacha) make me grin a little when I see them, and that's a Good Thing. On 14 of the cards, the visage seen is perfectly understandable, which is basically what makes photo choices like the Colton Cowser and Riley Greene cards so much more noticeable. So here'e to hoping that this little detail starts trending upwards, too, as so many of the little nitpicks do on my Topps Baseball Cards. Topps has well upped their game on many of those lately; laziness is decreasing, which is great.

And now that I have all 15 cards fully absorbed, minus a few more backs to read yet, I can get on with opening pack #6, & pack #7... Hooray!